This week it was announced that a Justice League movie was finally in the works and that terminal bachelor George Clooney was engaged. Now guess which one of these is a rumor–I’ll give you a hint: it doesn’t come with batnipples.
On April 27, The Wallstreet Journal reported that Warner Bros. president Greg Silverman has confirmed that Justice League will shortly follow-up Batman vs. Superman in 2018; as with Man of Steel and its sequel, Zack Snyder is returning to direct.
I’m sure most fans believed the likelihood of George Clooney returning as Batman and simultaneously getting married was much higher than seeing a Justice League team up before they died.
This, however, is not the first time studios dipped their feet into the seemingly lukewarm waters of Justice League. Several years ago, Warner Bros. along with director George Miller (best known for Mad Max and Happy Feet) tried their hand at it but eventually shelved the project around 2007 due to ensuing script and financial issues.
For those that loathe the idea of Ben Affleck in the role it can also be said that they dodged a bullet. Miller’s incarnation of Justice League would have seen Armie Hammer (The Social Network, Lone Ranger) don the cape and cowl. The idea of it almost makes me nauseous; it is almost as appealing as Nicolas Cage in Tim Burton’s fair weather Superman. Rememeber that…no? That’s because it was canned, too.
Now fans are speculating (hopefully jokingly) that frequent collaborator and best friend to Affleck Matt Damon will go up for the part of Aquaman, pitting him against Game of Thrones alum Jason Momoa who is rumored to be in talks with Warner Bros./ DC for an unknown role.
If this idea is coming from the same source that suggested some months ago that Damon play the Robin to Ben Affleck’s Batman, then it is clear that there is no substance to it.
All of this news both justifies and arrives on the heels of the insertion of a Cyborg (to be played by Broadway performer Sam Fisher) cameo into Man of Steel sequel titled Batman vs Superman, providing confirmation that the hotbed of shady casting decisions was for a specific reason.
With production secrets and information being shut so tight behind the wall that is the DC/Warner Bros. team, various sources have only been able to release specualtive stories about the trajectory of DC’s future cinematic universe.
As production for the sequel has been pushed back it could only be infered that the team was secretly doubling up on projects in order to shoot them back to back. If that is the case then Justice League will be more likely to wrap in 2017.
Of course, all of the actual confirmed dates are to subject to change with the projected release being so far away.
With Snyder at the helm it’s clear that this isn’t your dad’s “Super Friends”. Millions of people will probably die again, most likely by building rubble or alien invasion. Children are going to be crying in theatres but it will be awesome.
At this point, DC and Warner Bros. are not obliged to do anything except take up their own solid formula for how they will continue and hopefully stop releasing movies five years out. While their films are enjoyable, Marvel is not as considerate of quality as it is with quantity.
If a website forum makes another post about DC rushing to the punch or needing to follow Marvel’s lead, I think I might punch a hole through the metaphorical wall separating the two properties.
At the rate that WB is pumping out DC movies it would be a completely left-field statement to say the company is rushing the execution of their respective films.
If the pacing of the formula is any indication of where the universe is headed then fans should be reassured that the producers are in no way jumping the gun. No one, at any point in the conceptualization of the DCU, has rushed anything and if they are someone needs to slap them across the face with a Merriam-Webster dictionary with the page opened on the definition of rushed. This news, while not surprising, could not have come any sooner.
That being said, it feels like 2 in 4 movies that release every other weekend now have to do with some angst ridden guy and his superhero struggles.
Justice League now marks the 14th comic book movie set to release within the next 4 years. It is a heroes world, we just happen to live in it.
Zhana Johnson
Features Correspondent